The Sun. — London, England, 1808-12-08 00:00:00

iv AVAL NEWS. PLYMoUTII, Dec. 6.—Arrived • the American Ship Sally, WILLIS, from London, in ballitst ; the American Brig Wheeler, GRONNELS, from London, bound to Malta, laden with sugar, coffee and indi go, Put in here by contrary winds ; the American Ship Ve rmont, --, from London,, bound to Spain, in b allast, put in here by contrary winds; the Swe dish Brig Eneheden, OLoF CoEMET, • Master, and t he Swedish Ship Marie Christie, Capt. MEEK, both .f.rnrtt Stockholm, bound to this Port, laden with iron, deals, &c. Passed by the Humber hired Armed Ship, Capt. 1.11 L 1 ,' with a convoy for Falmouth. Arrivd the Argun Sloop of War from the Downs, and the A nn , BRADFORD, from Malta, with wine a nd brandy, for orders ; the Portuguese Ship Serra Pi g u innct, from London, bound to the Brazils ; ' the J upiter, of 50 guns, from Portsmouth. Atriv " also, this afternoon, a Brig Sloop of War from th e' westward, supposed from Spain ; her name, or any particulars she brings, is not learnt. too t' he Sein e Fri gate went out o f H ar b our t hi s after- FALMOUTII, DEC' 5 Afor • Arrived his Majesty's Ship rtstottn with a convoy from Plymouth, for a les ; Portuguese Ship Teresa from the Brazils ; a nd th ree light Transports, part of 32 Sail off this Fort; from Plymouth. Sailed his Majesty's Ship Amazon, and King Geor ge and Resolution Cutters on, a cruize off the coast of France. ORTSUoUTH, DEC. 7.—Sailed his Majesty's Ship .Es cort, Lieut. Wm. SMITH, for Jersey. Went out of Harbour His Majesty's Ship Eliza volt. SHEERNESS, DEC. s.—Arrived the Deptford Ten der with volunteers and impressed men for the Fleet. t2e . 6 . - -Arrived the Onyx from Heligoland. h Al'o arrived His Majesty's Ship s R ose an d E tna Saito o rn , e North S e a. His Majesty's Ship Bellerophon, Capt. WAR RN, for Yarmouth. large Fleet are passing for the River. T DI STRIBUTION OF PRIZE-MONEY. o on th the Gun -brig Furious, for the Capture of the Aurora, at N ° e , lath Clem inst. and -Inn.W onWednesdays and Th ursdays a f ter , • 1 4, ent's o'lo the G un-brig Linnet, for the Recapture of the English irt g Harm ony, of Southampton, on the Linn et ' s arr i va l °Ad ii Po, at No. 28, Iligh-street, Port smout h , and every dy and Thursday, for three months, at the same place. ,ro the Ruby, for the Detention of the Prussian Ship Fen !non, (the Stately in Company) on board, at Portsmouth, ~ the la t h i nst. i f then in port, and every Wednesday and il),lnsday, at No. 14 , Cl ement ' s Inn. v t 4 ;o the Ruby, for the D etent i on of the following Prussian luq: e le, De longe Holscher, Frioadschaft, De Oude Feld, Pore ° ll board, at Portsmo u th, on t h e 12th inst. it' then in CI ' an board every Wednesday and Thursday after, at No. 14, Nen T o L t s Inn. tairtedloke Gun-brig Ferreter, for the Gute Mother Suze, N de ts -- °Y the Gun brigs Escort and lierreter, at o. 10, _s e larnstreet, on the 12th inst. and for three months, at the 4o t h tun a e G un -vessel Tigress, for the Capture of the For thr4 !ti the 16 t h . at No. 13, Great George-street, and for To theths after, at the same place. nun, (:Sceptre, for the. Capture ot the Dutch East India- Ce ' St. Helena, on the 15th inst. at No. 13, Great , arge-strept place, --.• Westminster, and afterwards at the same 1 ot disti not f°llotving instance of sagacity in an animal, ! bguished for that quality, oftention of is worthy of the the Public, as it is attested by the name .: l• a resPeEtable Correspondent of a periodical pub : i 4 leatio n : - • .4. , „,._- I nave long been in possession of an anecdote of .. ;?'me of th e b rute creation, which I send to you, not, _tnrach for, th e amusement of your readers, as that ',wit% Bingl ey may, if he thinks it worth y, insert it 14 the next ,edition of his Animal Biography :, it is .. b rit Aly true, an d would have appeared before, had it een leis - e 3 hind x traordinary ; for nothi n g b u t diffidence ered t truth me from sending it ; . but recorecollecting needs not to be as h ame d , i t i s brought be -I.Ar: the public, a n d i s , as follows :—Walking w ith a oflilthrough some meadows between two villages, cou n t 'lames of Upper and Lower Slaughter, in the tu nti l of GloOcest er , t h e path lay within about one la il , - Is ' r ed Yards of a sma ll b rook. Many ewes and li,: v3 were in the meadow : .we were about half ye'ry ever it when a ewe came up to us and bleated off y ' l°ll ` ll Y3 lookinc , up in my face, and then ran _.. towards the brook's I could not help remarking xnts.extraordin,... "V behaviour, but my attention was F:rttcularly d r°"Sed when she repeated it ; and, bleat g I°ll-er, see med w is h to signify something. it) parlicuiar . s, to. (fir e d- i be then ran .off as before in the same tea c h l(3b, repeatedly looking behind her till she si ed the brook, where she stood still. After stand to look at her some time, we continued 41) , t ir Walk, and h a d nearly reached the gate that letl ~ 'tit° the next meadow, when she came runing after , 43 the thi rd time, and seetned et more ,if v ,. °3 sible; th an b efore., I then de y termiried to earnest endea ;rie9l4 to discove r t h e motive for such singular beha ur :. I followed the ewe towards the brook ; see -211t5 tne advance, she ran as fast as she was able ; t('''lcing behind her several times; v;hen we came i ° the-brook, she peeped over the edge of a hillock, , 11 Y) the water, looked up in my face,'and bleated 'lath the most voice I . ever heard fr om a (lia adraped. st ' Judge of my surprise, when, on look- Illg:into the stream, I saw her lamb standing close I ] ..Lk .el' the hillo ck, u ith the water nearly over its ti ; I instantly drew it ont, w h en the fond mo t''r began to lick, and give it suck, and, looking up u tile, uttered several sounds very different from ii : os e sh e h ad Uttered before, and eviden;ly p exress ttg t s atisfaCtio n and pleasure. I needed not those that ' l '"Ks, for I never performed one naion in my life brute a gave me more unmixed pleasure ; no did ever '4ppear wore grateful.' FllO.ll A SPAMSH PA P.P. R. " morns, scalper nocuit differrc paratus." " The Spanish nation swore to conquer or die free. Faithful to this oath, the provinces, one and all, rose in a mass; and . expelled the7tirst armies sent bythe Tyrant to subject us. The. commence ment of the enterprise has been glorlous ; but to in sure its being conducted to a happy terrnination, we must incessantly bear in mind, that upon our energy: and activity alone depends whether we are to be happy or miserable—slaves or freemen,. We have long since impressed upon the nation at large, a doe sense of the bold but glorious pledge .which we have. given each other, to resist a Tyrant who holds in subjection a population triple that of Spain, and who puts to hazard the lives of all that obey him in the ptio secution of his ambitions designs---the indiscriminate mass of his vile slaves, by an unaccountable singu, larity of conduct, sacrificing theMselves, in return, for the robbery and pillage in which his soldiers are permitted to indulge. We also then said, and we now repeat it, that both the Chief and the Nation with whom we contend are soldiers by profession, expert in the use of arms, and in all the evolutions of the military art:. In order to• resist them, we re ' marked, not only that numerous armies .were neces sary, but also that all of us,without exception, should devote. every moment of leisnre to learning the use of arms; that so we might form a nation of war-; riors ever ready to defend our properties, which the Tyrant would subject not only. to the ordinary laws I of conquest, but likewise to all the rigours of con fiscation, as belonging to men whom he deems and denominates rebels.—We added, that it would be absurd to expect any other than that fresh and nu-, - merous armies would conic to replace those- who were flying before us, panic-struck with the chastise ment we had inflicted upon them. Experience, and an attentive observance of what has, for many. years, been passing in Europe, prepared us for this event beyond the possibility of doubt. • Our predictions have been verified. Our object was not to dissuade the nation from the most honour able and. heroic -of all undertakings, but on - the contrary to stimulate them to persevere in it with increa,ed firmness and ardour; convinced as we are, that neither France, nor the whole world, can subjugate us, if our exertions properly cdr respond to that noble impulse of magnanimous feel ing which miraculously united the whole nation.— The Provinces have been deeply impressed with this. incontestible truth ; the hearts of Spaniards glowed with the noblest ambition ; they displayed prodigies of valour : and a general levy was adopted, of sin gle men between t 6 and 40 years of age, from which mass armies • were embodied on a scale adapted to the . existing funds and other circum stances. Our pecuniary resources were not, in the first instance, adequate to, the pay and subsistanee of the numerous host of volunteers ; but the •succcurs, ' the friendship, and proteelton of Great Britain speedily enabled us to supply the wants of the regu lar troops already in the field, and to the expected aid from the Colonies we looked for a supply more than sufficient for the' army of reserve, which was to be organized and disciplined without delay, in order to supper - the former. .This wise plan, the only basis and prop of a happy issue, .should - never be lost sight of ; and in order to its being rendered etfedually operative, now is the time for preparing even more than the necessary reinforcementa; 'We • ought to make sure of having a force always equal ; if not .superior, to that of our- enemy. If, by any chance, this indispensable. resource has in some pro vinces been neglected, -not a Moment' ought 'tolbe lost in making it efficient, however 'great the diffi culties that are to be surmounted: All ought to re flect that the salvation of the country depends upon ' promptitude and energy, and that those who are deficient in their duty • will be responsible for the evils it may suffer through their negligence. To work then with heart and hand! Away with all de lays and impediments I if we are not - ready to sub mit our necks to the most infamous - slavery: Let our young men be disciiilined, and keep theniselves ready, and resolved to march in a body to whatever point they are ordered. Whilst some of us are fighting, let others be qualifying themselves tojoin . in the battle. Let all of us, without exception, ac custom ourselves to the use of arms, and, as a mea- sure of precaution, fortify ourselves - at every point. As the town or district which • displays the greatest zeal in the discharge of this duty, will most entitle itself to the esteem and gratitude of the country, so, that- which may- be remiss or negligent, will subject itself to an indelible stain. Anticipating and reliev ing the cares of the Goternment, let us voluntarily bring into operation the means and resources of our. security. This line of-conduct is alike enjoined. by the Circumstances- of our own situation, the natural impetuosity of our enemies, arid the ferocious di ipo- . sition of their leader. • Let us be every where pre pared to meet and repel Them, and we shall secure our independence. Fellow-countrymen !—Energy ! --;•Energy.l" • PEDEsTatANism:---,The following instance of won derful exertion in walking, performed by one Thos. &wager, which took place the beginning of the year 1789, is related by the Reverend John Lodge, in Iris Sketches towards a Topographical History of the County of Hereford This man, who Was at that tine about 50 years of age, five feet four inches high, and lame, from one leg being considerably shorter than the other, undertook, for a wager of a 0 pine* to walk four hundred and four miles in six days-.. The line agreed upon for the display of his agility was on the turnpike road from. Hereford to Ludlow, and back again from Ludlow toHeretbrd. Owing to the unevenness and badness Of the road in general, and especially to the lofty hill of Dinmore, which he was obliged to pass at least three times a day, the odds at starting were a guinea to a shilling against him, and were still further increased on the • triird day by a tall of snow, which made the road ex-. ceedingly slippery and dirty. He continued his ca reer, however, with infinite spirit, and won his war ger tire hours within the time allowed. It appeared afterwards, by adding together the superfluous around he had walked to his lodgings at Hereford, Ludlow, and elsewhere contiguous to the road, that instead of four hundred and four, he had actually travelled' no less than four hundred and tWenty,nine miles ;" which makeS More .than three miles an hoi.lr for the whole 139 hours ! Mr. .Mootta's Novel, " - The . we un derstand, wiil make its appeararice'in a lcw Liqs. LATV 1?EFO1 T. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Drc 7. BEFORE . LORD ELLENROROUGII, AND A SPECIAL JURY. THE KING V. ALEX. DAVIiON. Mr...Mena riF, , iN opened the pleadi ags,and stated this to be a Criminal Information, filed by his Ma jesty's. Attorney-Genet al, against the Defendant, 41extinder Davison, Esq. for a misdemeanour, that of making ,a false and fraudulent charge upon the Barrack Department, in violation of his agreement with General Delancey, Barrack-master-General, which agreement was entered into between' the Barrack-master and the Defendant, by letters, the one written on the aaili of December, 1794, pro posing that the Defendant should become the agent to supply the Mirrack Department with all requi sites., on' terms therein specified ; for which he was to'have two . and a half per cent. for his trouble, by way-olconrinission, •as a general agent ; which was to be the whole of his emolument for his trouble in that business. To Nvi;ich, on the loth of January 'following, the-Defendant assented, in a letter which he wrote in .answer to that of General Delancey. Which terms were. proposed, to him on account of his general knowledge and skill in business, . and especially business of that sort. That he entered upon that • business accordingly, and carried it on for awhile ; but that afterwards, -instead of adhering to that agreement,. by which he was confined to his two and a half Per cent as agent in procuring such articles as the Barrack Department wanted, .which was to be the whole of his emolument, he sold se veral articles. on . his own account, upon which he had not only the prafits of a seller, of the goods, but "charged, in addition to that,. two.and- a. half per cent. commission upon the whole aatotint. a That the .articles which he thus supplied .*ere to the amount of 15,1361.. 9s. 3d. , by means ..of sales as coming from merchants to him, whereas thev• were -colourable sales set up by. him, in which had made his own Clerks appear as the merchants; and, by means of Use .vouchers, got .such accounts passed at the Barrack Departmeht. That for this pur pose he had set up George Watson, one.of.his own Clerks, as a merchant, who had supplied him with goods to the above amount ; that is 15,1361 95..3d, upon which be . (the Defendant) got,a besdes• .his profit upon the sale, the sum of 3281. 17s. 3d. fur his commission.—And that he had carried .on this species of . fraud, and rendered false accounts in this manner half-yearly, for:eight. half-years, which was at last deteCted. This was the substance of the Information a to which the Defendant had pleaded not guilty; whereupon issue was joined. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL ' opened the'ease on .the part of the prosecution ;- 'and observed, that as the Jury had attended to the comprehensive' opening' of this case •by his •Isearaed.Friend, they were pos sessed of the general nature- of this charge against the Defendant, Mr. Alexander Davison : the sub stance of which waa, that he being employed by Government to supply the Barrack-Office with arti- • claa in the Department of an - racks—that was, with all such goods as that Office should - want, aad that Mr. Davison was toata as agent, and as agent only, in that business ; and his emolument, and the whole of - his emolument ; was-to be two and a half per cent. u pon-all which he should so supply as agent. He had this two and a half per cent.• upon all that -he thus procured to be supplied to Govern ment, and . this WaS given to Mr. Davison for the full application of his experience, skill, and dili gence; in seeking oat the articles which might be' wanted from time to' time 'in that department, ;"- in seeing that they were of the fit quality, and that the charges upon them. were reasonable. In a word, this two and a half per cetit: -.. COMMiSSI3II was given to Mr. Davison upon the whole of what he should procure to the Barra& Department, for the purpose . of - procuring front Mr. Davison his best energy in the public service, in which the most material abi lity he could produce Was in -his character of a check upon others; that is,. the persons' of whom lie pur chased these articles ; but not that he should deal With Government on his own account ; that was purposely excluded:, because that- would de feaCthe very spirit of-his - .engagement: He - had; however departed from that spirit, and had - supplied theSe articles on his own account, and had even charged commission for procuring that which was sold. by himself. Thus Government not only lost the . security intended to be saved by this engage• ment with Mr. Davison, of making him a check uptin the conduct of others, but Mr. Davison had a dired interest in letting others charge as highly as possible, because the higher they charged the higher he might charge as he must not charge higher than they did ; so that Mr. Davison, by hag-: ing thus become the seller of articles to GOvern ment himself, instead of being a check upon others,. had an immediate interest in direa opposition to his duty, ; and accordingly so he acted, for he had set up his own clerks as merchants, and had actually in their 'names supplied the Bar rack Department with articles of his own, and charged upon all these articles commission as. if they had • beeli merchants who had, regularly supplied them all. These articles, amounting to the above sum stated in the Information, were only hi the course of the first' half-year after the agreement had been departed from ; and his i. clerk, or apprentice, George Watson, of the age of about 22, was made the merchant, and he appeared to have supplied these articles, and the bills of par cels were made out in his name, and as such passed . at the BarraCk Department, because the officers there thought they were regularly supplied by merchants with whom Mr. Davison dealt, and therefore he ; was allowed commission on them ; and he • went through the farce of taking a receipt for this sum of 15,1361. as having, been .paid by him to G. Watson, his own servant; and which receipt G. Watson, or rather a person of the name'of Allen, signed, altho' not a farthing of mont.‘y passed from Mr. Davison to George Watson. The whole of this scene was laid by Mr. Davison at his house of trade in Bedford street, where he- carried on, tos a vast extent, the business of en army clothier ; the leading :win in which was a . person of the name of Mango Sheddon ; then Allen ; an 3, 'George Watson. The whole of this was an absolute W7.tion to cover the frhud of Mr. Davison, •and to enable him not only to sell these goods at a profit to hiin , :cll, but also to Wain his commission of t VO and a half per cent. upon the whole .amount.- This business was arran g ed and metbodised between Da-iison and a Mr. Bower ing, who wae, leading manager of his generti and undetys':l"lose direction this plan of Mah.ing signing these false vottchers , took effea, Tills Mr. Bo.cering was the first to stigest to Mr. , vison, that it would look extremely odd that Mr. DaviGio-, in giving his account of goods supplied by birrisL!rt, should mike Alexander 'Davison debtor to Alexan der Davisoc, or Alexander Davison bought Alexandyr Davison, and therefore this expel cot was hit upon of making this charge, as if the go:) had been supplied by this boy, George Watson, Ste. To add to thiS, and to give every thing the appear ance (If regularity, the whole of the goods thus sup-; plied by Mr. Davison, were sent 'to: the plate of their destieation by a packer of the name of Lo:Lee, ' which had the appearante of regularity and this scheme lulled the Offiters of the Barrack Depart ment into a false" security, and the whole of - ilia charge was allowed. ,When he should have proved these facts, it would be the duty of the Jury to find the Defendant guilty. Mr. Thomas Bennie proved that the different tio• cuments, delivered in ' by Mt. Davison to the Par , ' rack Board, with his natne, had all of them hianaxa' nature in his own hand-writing. Being reada ttidy appeared to contain the different items of charge, made , by Mr. Davison on the Barrack Beard, whteh in eluded the items afterwards proved to have' heeti by Mr. Davison himself, through the mediti - n o 'his clerks, Mono Sheddon, John Allen, rind Watson, and Me'. Lodge, the Packer, Then the bets, as they were opened, were Substantially proved by these Witnesses, and also by a Mr. Wth, James, Clerk of Mr. Lodge; and, in . short', there was no essential controversy on these faas. The Letters Of Mr. Davison, as well as his answers to the Committee of Military Inquiry, were then read. Mr. DALLAS made an eloquent speech for the Defendant, which he commenced by observing on the immense importance of the subjea, involving every' thing that was dear to his client on this side the grave. He complained of the prejudices excited against his Client, by premature publications on the circumstances of the case---publications which could not inform, although they might inflame, •the mind. He:maintained that the most material part .of this case remained hitherto untold ; which was ; • that there was a new agreement after that of 1795 between General Delancey and Mr. Davison, by which it was settled that Mr. Davison should, in cotisequeoce of the great difficulty of procuring the necessary supplies for the Barrack Department in the market, supply that der.rtment out of his own stores ; and that what Mr. aivison had done in that respea had been by the consent of General lancet' ; that this superseded the original agree ment; and that the partieS afterwards peoceedtad upon a new footing. That upon' the new agree-; ment, Mr. Davison was allowed by General De laricey to send in goodS to . the'Barrack Department ' out of - his own stores.--That 'haVing - done so, he might be entilled"to a commission' of two and h per cent. on' what 'he sold himself, as well as . what he procured -from the multifarious duties which • were imposed on hini in this'ease ; or if he. wasuot, yet if he thought so, that would bean answer to this ' inforination, which went - Open the. intention - Of'e the party. This defence - fit should prate' by General Delancey hianselle and other material • faas, by proceeding to shew the integrity of `'Mr: ' Davison, to whom the public were greatly' debted for the energy and the integrity with which he had :transacted so many of their affairs, 'a► al . thrOugli - whose,hands upwards-sof a million of their tnoney htd' passed without so much as the' defalcaa tion of a single shilling. Nor Was, there the loss' or' a penny to the public in the case investion, but on 'the contrary, a benefit, for - the supplies could not have been 'had with the necessary promptness in any other manner. Taking then the case as it really was, he submitted that the real justice of it vets with Mr. Davison ; but 'if that was more than the Jury could 'assent to, yet he submitted that, if the matter was in doubt, the scale ought' to preponderate on the side of mercy. General Delancey was examined by Mr.'G. SON.— He stated, that he bad been for some tinie in the Barrack Department; he was appointed to that office in the year 1793, and continued in if until November 1804. He stated the manner in whith the supplies of the barrack' stores were provided when he came into office. It was condualed by the War Office, and in some measure by the Ordanee. With regard to the part which he had himself to conduct, it had been previously conduced by the War-Office. The supplies were obtained by t heWar- Office by persons employed in that °Rice for the purpose, but he did not know in what manner they were paid. After he had been some time in the Office, he found an inconvenience to the public from that mode of obtaining the supplies in this Depart ment. He observed that persons had been employed from the War-Office, who conceived it to be their d duty to do no more than to • procure certain articles for the Barrack Department, without providing for their conveyance to the pldces of their destination, and thought they discharged their duty by sending them by the first convenient public conveyance, which produced a very great inconvenience to the public service ; for when he frequently wanted arti cles for the purpose, on inquiring for them, they were still in the warehouses in London ; for these Officers never took the pains of sending them expeditiously to the department for which they were destined,— These were inconveniences which appeared to him to require a remedy; and a considerable alteration in the mode of transacting that business.' In con.ie quence of which, at the end of the year 1794, .or the beginning of 1795, he made an agreemeni with the Defendant, Mr. Davison ; and. he entered into that agreement with that Gentleman, not in consequence of any previous acquaintance : he knew nothing of him in private,' but had frequently seen him in the Public Offices during the American War, where he heard him spoken of frequently as a man of great use in business, who had given satilfation to Go vernment in the various concerns he had, that therefore he was a fit person to be employtd on account of his knowledge of, public business ; and upon the respectable character which he had, but not in consequence of any private,intimacy or ac quaintance, ne entered into that agreement with -him, which was to commence its execution in the be ginning of the year. I 795. His own letter, which he wrote to Mr. D. on the subject, was dated on the f23th Of December, 1794, and to which he received • an answer on the 10th of January, 179.5 ; and then Mr. D. entered open the office to which he was